


Dance Through My Heart

by lazy_storm_clouds



Category: American Housewife (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Emotional, Gen, Implied Mutual Pining Cooliver, Katie & Cooper bond, M/M, One Shot, Takes place a few days after 5X03, Technically canon-compliant, Written before 5x04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:00:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27803443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lazy_storm_clouds/pseuds/lazy_storm_clouds
Summary: Cooper needs to talk to Katie about something important.
Relationships: Cooper Bradford & Katie Otto, Cooper Bradford & Oliver Otto, Cooper Bradford/Oliver Otto
Comments: 21
Kudos: 91





	Dance Through My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> The rough draft was written prior to 5X04. The editing was done after so I included a favorite line I swear had special emphasis. The camera zoomed in slowly and the way Cooper said it and how Katie reacted got to me, so I added it in. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Cooper leaned in the doorway and watched as Oliver moved through a series of positions. He seemed relaxed, for once. Cooper sometimes would hear the music drifting from their room but this was the first time he’d thought to investigate.

Oliver went back into what Cooper was pretty sure was the first position. Before the cycle could start over, Cooper spoke.

“I thought you gave up ballet.”

Oliver turned, body so relaxed he didn’t even startle at his voice.

“I did. Professionally, anyway. I won’t make it into Harvard with it, anymore.”

Cooper walked over to his chair by the bookcase. Oliver returned to his previous position and began again.

“What’s all this, then?” Cooper pointed a finger around the general area where Oliver was.

Oliver didn’t pause in his routine. Cooper leaned forward in his chair, hands dangling between his legs.

“I think it just relaxes me at this point. It’s comforting to not feel so much pressure anymore when I’m dancing.” Oliver stopped dancing and just faced Cooper as he became more passionate. “When I tore my ACL, I thought it was all over for me. It made me realize just how much I actually enjoyed dancing. Now, I’m more careful but I do it for me and not Harvard.”

Done with his speech, Oliver moved into the third position. Cooper looked him up and down through his eyelashes.

“Well, your form is perfect,” Cooper said, his lips quirking up.

“You don’t know anything about proper form,” Oliver scoffed.

Cooper shrugged and his lips cracked into a smile.

“Even so, I still think you look great.”

“Thanks,” Oliver looked away with a closed smile. “I think I’ll probably be doing this for another hour. Is that... okay?”

He glanced at Cooper.

“Yeah,” Cooper stood. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll just be downstairs.”

The soft, classical music was muffled when Cooper shut the door behind him. He stilled, his hand still on the knob. His hand shook over the cool metal. He quickly let go of the doorknob and turned away from the door. Clenching his hands into fists and shoving them in his pockets, he headed for the stairs.

* * *

Katie was stirring a pot of sauce for that night’s spaghetti when she heard footsteps on the stairs. They were too light to belong to the younger two, Taylor was with Trip, and she’d sent Greg to the grocery store. It was either Cooper or Oliver.

“Whichever one of you it is,” she said without turning. “If you’ve come in search of food, you’ll just have to starve for a little while longer. I made the mistake of sending your dad to get the garlic bread. And you know how distracted he gets when walking past the limited edition foods.”

“It’s not that.”

It was Cooper, then. Katie turned and was met with an unexpected sight. Cooper was picking at his nails and looking towards the ground. He  _ never _ picked at his nails, his manicure was too expensive. He seemed smaller with his shoulders slumped and his head never lifting from its spot facing the ground. 

Katie looked from him to the simmering pasta sauce. She’d just have to keep stirring if he wasn’t going to say anything. She could wait him out. Maybe. 

“What’s wrong, Cooper? You look more wilted than the flowers Luthor keeps peeing on.” 

Okay, so she couldn’t wait him out. 

“Can we,” he cleared his throat and finally looked up, vulnerability shining in his eyes. “Can we talk?”

Katie didn’t even pause despite the number of warning bells going off in her head that something was truly wrong. 

“Of course.” 

She turned down the burner and headed for the couch. Cooper slowly followed, arms reaching up to hug himself. Once there, her concern spiked with how folded into himself he was. He’d taken the other corner of the couch and practically tried to blend in with it. Cooper wasn’t closed off or prone to wallowing. He was an open book and joyful and never hesitated to let it be known how he was feeling. This was just downright scary.

“Cooper,” Katie scooted over and put a hand on the cushion right beside him. “What’s going on?”

Cooper swallowed audibly and his hands tightened their grip on his arms. Once he relaxed them, Katie realized they were trembling, badly. She reached for one of his hands and set it between both of hers. She gave it a pat and a comforting squeeze. 

“You can talk to me.” 

“I know,” he said softly. “It’s just hard.” 

Her head tilted to the side. “Is it finding the words or just saying them?” 

He looked up with watery eyes. 

“Just saying them.” 

“Well,” she spoke in a matter-of-fact voice. “Then we’ll just have to sit here until you can say them.” 

Cooper turned bodily toward her, eyes wide with confusion. 

“What about dinner? Won’t it burn?”

“And that,” she pointed at him. “Is why we have so many takeout menus.” 

He huffed out a laugh, finally relaxing a little. His legs lowered into a criss-cross position, but he never let go of her hand. 

“I think…”

She nodded for him to go on. Normally, she’d make some quip about Cooper thinking but he needed her now to listen and so she would. 

“I think I’m in love with Oliver.” 

He rushed it out as if he couldn’t get the words out fast enough now that he could say them. He was breathing hard and looking like a little kid. His grip on her hand was killer and he was still trembling. But something made him seem more settled to Katie. His eyes were clearer and his face was more open. 

Oh, God. She’d been waiting for ages for this and she definitely owed Doris $20 now. He wasn’t the one she expected to hear it from first but it made sense. Wait, what did she say here? And did that mean they couldn’t share Oliver’s room anymore? What was the protocol? Easy things first, she decided. 

“Okay. What do you want to do about it?” 

His forehead creased in confusion. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well,” she started. She had to make up options quickly but by God, they would be damn good options. “Do you want to tell him or—” 

“No, no, no!” Cooper’s hand slipped from hers as he stood with a flurry of waving hands and his head whipping back and forth rapidly. 

_ Well, _ Katie thought,  _ I think that’s a no.  _

“Next option then,” he sat back down. “Do you want to find someone to talk to about it?” 

“I’m talking to you, though.”  _ God, _ how was he so  _ earnest? _

“Okay.” Aaaaand she’d run out of ideas. Oh, wait, maybe she could kill two birds with one stone.

“Do you want to move out of Oliver’s room? We can find the space. Or we can just kick Oliver out, that’d solve all our problems. And we’d finally have room for all your crap.” 

“Oh, it’s not crap. It’s the finest collection of seasonal we—”

His mood was better but Katie could _ not _ have that conversation with him again. Twice was bad enough. 

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved him off. “We’re not talking about that. Are you uncomfortable sleeping in the same room as him?” 

Cooper’s shoulders tensed as he was brought back to the situation at hand. 

“No. I don’t want to  _ not  _ share a room with him. Should I stop sharing a room with him?”

Katie shrugged. 

“I don’t know. That’s up to you. This is a new thing so I’m not sure what to do here any more than you.” 

“But just a few days ago you were upset Trip was staying the night,” he pointed out. 

“I’m a hypocrite! And you two aren’t dating yet. Get back to me when that changes.”

“Yet?” He looked hopeful. 

“Yet. Trust me, you’re one step closer to becoming an Otto just by having this conversation.” 

Katie wrapped an arm around his shoulders and just held him for a second. 

“Look, you can love him from a distance and watch as he eventually falls in love with someone else. Or you can do something about it and put yourself out there by letting him know how you feel. It doesn’t have to be now. But don’t wait forever. If he feels the same, he might not know it. And the not knowing is worse.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah. So, just,” she smoothed her hands out across the air as if on a flat surface. “Test the waters. Put some feelers out. Make sure he knows you’re there and that something is different. Think that’ll work?” 

“Yeah.”

The front door opened and Greg came in with two paper bags full of groceries.

“They only had triple cheese. It was a bit more expensive but I thought we could splurge.” 

His excited face faded into one of disgusted confusion. 

“What’s that burning smell?” 

“God, Greg!” She turned, hands flying up in frustration. “Can’t you see we’re having a moment?” 

“Yeah, sorry,” he placed the bags on the counter and pointed at the stove. “But the burning smell?” 

“That’s the sauce. We were having a mother-son bonding moment and the sauce is burning.” 

“So are we going to cut it off or…?” 

“Whatever, Greg. I’m ordering pizza.” 

“Okay, then.” 

Cooper laughed at their antics and turned to Katie. He smiled that wide smile that made her think of Luthor when he got a treat. 

“Thanks, Mom.”

“No problem.” 

Cooper stood and went for the stairs. Greg looked between the two, completely lost. 

“What just happened?” 

How should she play this? Did she tell Greg? No. No, let Cooper keep his secret for a little longer. 

She shrugged as she stood, “I don’t know.” 

“What?” 

She shrugged again and went to the stove. She had a sauce to get rid of and a pizza to order.

* * *

Cooper paused in front of his and Oliver’s bedroom door. He’d forgotten Oliver would be practicing for an hour. What was he supposed to do during that time? He could go back to the kitchen or he could do his homework. Or he could just walk around looking for literally anything else to do. He could watch stupid videos on his phone… except his phone was in the bedroom.

Cooper opened the door and stepped in. Oliver was stretching on the floor. It looked like the cool-down he used to do when he would put in extra hours after studio practice. Wasn’t he supposed to still be practicing? 

“Why are you doing your cool-down? I thought you were practicing.” 

“I didn’t want to anymore. Why’d you leave? You didn’t have to, you know.” 

Cooper was surprised. Not only by how fast Oliver changed the conversation but by the implication that Oliver had  _ wanted  _ him to stay. 

“Oh. I thought… The way you said it made me think you wanted to practice alone.” 

Cooper walked to the end of the bed, sat down, and turned in Oliver’s direction. They sat in silence as Oliver finished his stretches. Once done, he grabbed his water and moved onto the bed by Cooper. 

“Sorry if it sounded that way,” he drank some water before continuing. “But you live here too now. I don’t mind you being here when I practice. I didn’t mind when you didn’t live here.” 

He had Cooper’s full attention in a way he didn’t before. He was  _ paying attention  _ now.

“Oh.” 

“You can stay if you want. Next time.” 

Oliver gave Cooper a searching look, his eyes filled with an emotion Cooper couldn’t decipher. 

“I think I will,” Cooper said with a grin. Maybe he wasn’t the only one testing the waters. He would definitely be paying better attention. 

**Author's Note:**

> I have another prompt I'm going to be working on and hope to post next week. 
> 
> However, coming up with prompts is hard 😅 so please feel free to leave me some down below or contact me through my  
> [Tumblr](https://lazy-storm-clouds.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Comments fuel me and, no lie, I look at them for weeks so please leave a comment and/or a kudos!


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